Hart of Neverland
by QNeverbutt
Summary: Neverland likes Peter Pan. Neverland doesn't want to risk losing Peter Pan. So what does Neverland do? Neverland gets Peter Pan a girl, and a special one at that. And then the Shadow Witch Queen comes into town and Peter finds that he needs to protect this girl...or maybe Peter needs her to protect him. Peter Pan/OC
1. Misbehaviour

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Once Upon A Time", Peter Pan or Felix; the writers of Once do. I do, however, own Gemma Berring, the evil stepmother, the Lost Boys that I created, the evil witch bitch and any other characters other than Pan and Felix. **

_[_**A/N: **_Hello! Tis LoyalToPan from Wattpad. So, I was going to put this fanfiction on this site anyway but on my own time. HOWEVER, Time was not on my side and he rushed the process. As a result, I forgot my password and email which in turn forced my hand to post it on here to finish it. C'est la vie! I don't mind, really. It gives me a chance to fix it. To be honest, it was a bit shitty. Now I get to make it better and not so rushed or cheesy! YAY! And all of you who were following it on Wattpad, I implore you to re-read it because there will be many changes._

**And to anyone who is reading this for the first time:**

_In this fanfiction, you will not be finding Henry of Emma or Snow or Charming, or any of the first half of season 3, for that matter. I got seriously bored and annoyed with those Peter Pan/OC fics with the hunt for Henry. I understand that is how we were introduced to him, but COME ON. It gets annoying reading the same thing over and over but with different situations. Anyway, I also want you to know that Peter isn't Rumple's father in this fic because that's just fucking weird. _

_Beware there will be the sex and swearing and BY THE GODS will there be licking._

_I hope you enjoy your stay. _***licks you all***_]_

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><p>Gemma was getting bored. She wasn't used to sitting still for so long. Without thinking, she turned her head to the left to look out the window, which was a big mistake. Mr Connelly released a hiss of breath - which wasn't the first time - and she couldn't help but bite her lip to keep from laughing.<p>

"Sit still, child!" Mr Connelly, the family portrait painter, demanded from behind the canvas before him.

"Kind of hard..." She mumbled.

Gemma turned to looked at Mr Connelly. The light from the sun caused black blobs to alter her sight briefly. When they began to fade away, she could see that Mr Connelly was gripping the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, his glasses rising in the process. Gemma was sitting in a large arm chair in front of a massive, roaring fireplace - despite it being mid-summer - and a family portrait of her, her father, and her stepmother. Mr Connelly took a deep breath and brought his hand away from his face, leaving smudges of paint.

"Ok, darling. Please, oh _please_, try to sit still for another hour."

Gemma lifted her eyebrows sarcastically and did an exaggerated fake smile for Mr Connelly. He let out an exasperated breath. "Thank you, but you can lessen your smile a bit."

Gemma allowed her cheeks to relax and stared at Mr Connelly while he continued to paint. It was only ten minutes in when Gemma's mind wandered away from the situation and she looked away. Mr Connelly let out a tortured "hopeless!" and threw his paintbrush to the ground before stomping out of the room and, no doubt, the mansion. Gemma could hear her stepmother frantically try to convince Mr Connelly to stay and continue, that Gemma would be good, but he refused. Gemma had her head turned and was covering her mouth, trying to hide her amused smile. She then heard heels storming back into the room, causing her smile to disappear.

"Well! I hope you're happy! He's gone and he refuses to come back! Now what are we going to do, young lady?"

"Come on, Momma! It's not like you can seriously expect me to sit still for hours on end! I can barely sit still for five minutes!"

Mrs Berring had her arms crossed across her chest and was muttering to herself.

"And you're not listening to me..."

"Excuse me?" Her mother snapped her head back at her, enraged. "Go to your room!"

Gemma gaped at her. "You're kidding right?"

"GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

Gemma threw off the knitted blanket that cascaded across her lap and ran up to her room, nearly tripping over her skirts. She heard a scuffling behind her and smiled at the thought that the cooks couldn't hold back her Irish Wolfhound, Geoffrey, any longer. Geoffrey trotted up the stairs beside her loyally. Gemma ran to her room and slammed the door after her dog. She fell on her bed, her face stuffed into a pillow.

"UGH! I _hate_ her!"

Geoffrey jumped onto her bed, laying his head on her arm and whined.

"I wish I could leave, too." She answered him, though she really was just using his whine as a way to voice her thoughts. It was comforting talking to her dog like they were having a real conversation.

His sad eyes stared up at her. He placed a paw on her shoulder, a sign of consolation.

"Oh, Geffy!" She had sat up by now and leaned her head on his, kissing his forehead.

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><p><em>Her bond with Geoffrey had started when he was only a year old. There was an infmaous adult female Irish Wolfhound in the village, though she was a stray. She was a mystery as to how she got there. She just showed up. One day she was shown to be pregnant, how no one could tell. She had a litter of three pups. Two of which died, followed eventually by the mother. Luckily, it was after the lone pup was fully weaned. The pup, which we identify as Geoffrey, soon became a scavenger to survive. A pup who stole food from the market and was quickly labeled "the mutt from Hell". <em>

_ One day, when Gemma was 10, her father, may he rest in peace, brought her to the village market on Market Day. He felt it was important to personally know the people of the village he was charged to watch over by the king. She was amazed by the townsfolk and their gadgets that she had only read about. They were steam powered and quite effective. Some of the tables had weapons which her father pointed out as a table for hunters, and others were just stuff to help other people throughout the day. _

_ She walked along, looking at the food tables for a snack when she heard a commotion to her right. She looked over to see a dirty, white puppy cowering against the wall with a link of sausages in his mouth and a butcher with the reddest face she had ever seen holding a cleaver up to him. Gemma screamed, dropping her rabbit fur hand muffs and ran to the dog, wrapping her arms around him. The butcher was shocked but his face was quickly coated again with anger._

_ "Get out of my way, girl! This doesn't concern you!"_

_ She looked over at the butcher through her brunette ringlets, tears pouring down her face. Her father ran over, "Gemma?"_

_ Mr Berring looked at the butcher who still had the cleaver raised at Gemma and the dog. "What's going on?" Her father was pissed, for a lack of a better word._

_ "I'll tell you what! That girl of yours is getting herself in the middle of things she oughtn't!"_

_ "What is the problem exactly?" Mr Berring said calmly._

_ "That mutt stole my sausage links and I am getting them back!"_

_ "Is that all?" He raised his eyebrow and held back a smile, but Gemma could see the humour behind his eyes. She hid her smile in the neck of dog. "Well, I shall have to pay for links, then."_

_ "What?" The butcher said stupidly._

_ "Everyone has to eat." Her father approached the puppy and held his hand out. The pup sniffed and then licked his hand. Mr Berring smiled. "Who does this dog belong to?"_

_ "No one. It's a stray."_

_ Gemma saw something shine behind her father's eyes. "Oh, really?"_

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><p>Gemma fell asleep to that memory. When she awoke, it was the middle of the night and her bed was empty. "Geffy?" She mumbled, still groggy. She looked over to the window to see said dog resting his front paws on the windowsill and was staring intently at something. "What is it, Geffy?" Gemma got out of bed and and stood next to Geoffrey at the window. She saw a black silhouette fly over a neighbouring house and then through a window. "Oh!"<p>

A couple minutes passed when she saw the silhouette leave the room with a child in its hand.

"Oh, my!" She said.

Geoffrey whined next to her and licked her hand.

"Is-is that a shadow?"


	2. Is This A Dream?

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Once Upon A Time", Peter Pan or Felix; the writers of Once do. I do, however, own Gemma Berring, the evil stepmother, the Lost Boys that I created, the evil witch bitch and any other characters other than Pan and Felix.**

_[_**A/N: **_Yeah, so. I changed that last chapter a bit and I am going to keep changing the chapters because HONESTLY the original fic I was writing was sooo shitty. SO SHITTY. If you're curious, it's still up there. I can't take it down. Feel free to visit my shameful original fic at LoyalToPan on Wattpad. DO IT. I FUCKING DARE YOU *starts sobbing*_

_..._

_Anyway, so I changed it from Gemma being in Victorian London to Gemma being in a steampunk realm. Yay! It's only very brief and it's more of a backdrop than an actual big thing._

_I hope you are enjoying my writing so far. Please continue reading. Please. LOOOOVE MEEEEE ... _***licks you all***_]_

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><p>Gemma stared after the Shadow. Gaping is more like it, really. Geoffrey nudged her hand and she subconsciously rested it on his head. Eventually she shook her head and changed into her nightgown. She wasn't exactly sure of what happened, but she knew that was her neighbour Jonathan Kane's house and if she was correct, that was his room the Shadow entered. But it was late and she was tired so she dismissed it as nothing, almost like how Ebenezer Scrooge was claiming his former business partner, Jacob Marley's ghost, was nothing more than indigestion. She curled into her blankets and went back to bed, the whole ordeal having almost completely slipped form her mind.<p>

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><p><em><strong> The next morning:<strong>_

Gemma yawned and stretched. She heard a s woman shrieking downstairs. She put on her robe and then sneaked out the door, sitting at the top of the staircase to hear better without interrupting.

"He's gone!" A shrill voice sounded. Gemma recognised it as Mrs Kane from next door. "Jonathan! He's gone! I went up ino his room to wake him up and he's gone! Bed cold, window open! Oh! My Jonathan!" A loud noise echoed throughout the hall; Gemma identified it as Mrs Kane blowing her nose.

Gemma, who thought it was all a strange dream, realised that she had seen Jonathan being taken by a Shadow. She almost ran downstairs when she remembered she was in her nightgown and ran into her bedroom, splashed water on her face, putting her hair up in pins and put on her navy blue, lace-up dress, then clipped a plain, silver cross around her neck. You know, to hopefully console her mother after their pift yesterday; Gemma really hated corsets.

"Mrs Kane! I saw who took your son but I thought it was just a dream!"

"Who? Who took him, child?" Mrs Kane nearly yelled at Gemma.

Her stepmother leaned forward, her mouth in a thin line.

"This will sound absolutely mad, but he was taken by a shadow!"

Mrs Kane threw her face into her handkerchief and sobbed loudly.

Mrs Berring scowled at Gemma. "How dare you make such a joke at a time like this! Go! Now!"

"But-"

"GO."

She ran from the room, tears stinging her eyes and yelling, "I was only trying to help!"

"Oh, my dear. I am so terribly sorry about her. She is such a terrible child."

Mrs Kane looked up and wiped her nose. "You know, I think she was genuinely trying to help and actually thinks a shadow took my boy."

Mrs Berring stared at the woman. "Really?"

"She had a desperate look in her eyes. No humour what-so-ever."

"My, my!"

Gemma was running to the stables, tears flying free down her cheeks by now. Geoffrey had been let out of her bedroom by a maid and was chasing her close behind. She ran up to her horse Corine and climbed on his back, not caring that there was no saddle or that she was wearing a dress and ran off into the field, Geoffrey bounding after them.

She finally made it to her field and jumped off, kneeling and crying into her lap. Geoffrey sat in front of her and placed a paw on her shoulder, licking her head.

"Geffy! It's not fair! No one listens!"

She laly down on her side and Corine and Geffy followed suit next to her on either side. Tears were still falling down her face when she fell asleep.

When she woke up, the sun was close to set. Her cheeks felt stiff and uncomfortable from her crying, as did her body from her corset. She sighed as she climbed back onto Corine, she was feeling numb but better. They trotted back to the stables and then Geffy and her walked back up to the manour. When they finally entered the side door that led into the sitting area, they saw that Mrs Berring was sitting on the sofa, a glass of red wine in hand.

"Sit down, child," she purred.

It sent chills down Gemma's spine.

"Tell me about this Shadow."

Gemma sighed and took a deep breath, though it was hard with the constricting corset around her ribs. "Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw Geoffrey not on my bed anymore." Her stepmother's eyes flashed at the thought of the dog being on the bed. Gemma continued, "and I saw him looking out the window so I walked over and saw a black silhouette flying, yes flying, and then it went into Jonathan Kane's window and then I saw Jonathan being flown away by the Shadow and...then I went back to bed. I was tired and thought I was seeing things. When I woke up this morning, I thought it was all a dream but then I heard Mrs Kane yelling about how Jonathan was missing and how the window was open."

Mrs Berring took a sip of her wine and placed it on the coffee table, standing up. She held her arms open, "oh, my child."

Gemma jumped up and hugged her stepmother. Her stepmother rarely ever showed affection. "So you believe me?"

Mrs Berring was stroking her hair and then stopped suddenly. "No." She pushed Gemma away. "Take her away."

People came bursting into the room and grabbed Gemma and started dragging her from the room."

"You!" She yelled at her stepmother. "How could you? I trusted you! I TRUSTED YOU!"

As Gemma was being carried from the room, she saw a slight, almost invisible, smile playing on her stepmother's lips, her eyes were vicious with triumphant fire. The bitch's composure had broken.

At some point Gemma blacked out from the rage. She woke up in a dirty, white cell with nothing more than a bed in the corner, a grubby toilet in the other corner and a sink standing next to it. She had been changed into a white gown that was thin and cold. Her hair was down, all pins gone, all jewelry gone, not even any shoes or stockings. Gemma curled up in her bed. "They brought me to the loony bin."

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><p><em><strong>3 Weeks Later:<strong>_

Gemma was sitting in the middle of the room, looking out her one pitiful, barred window. It was always cold in her room. She didn't even have a blanket to keep herself warm. She was lucky it was still summer. Gemma sighed and watched as the sun set. It was one of her favourite times of day. Her door unlocked and heavy footsteps entered. She stiffened.

"Hello, sweetheart. Ready for some fun?"

Gemma willed herself with all the strength she had left to not cry. He approached her and grabbed her before throwing her on the bed. She refused to show any emotion to this monster. He started stroking her hair. "So beautiful for a loony." She stared up at the ceiling. "Heard you were ranting about a shadow taking a boy before they took you in." He chuckled. "But I really don't care if that's the case. All I want is you body." He went to lick her neck when the reminder of Jonathan set her off. She kneed him in the groin and pushed him off.

"I'm not insane." Was all she said before she spit on him.

He stood up and grabbed her arms and yelled out the door, "I need help in here! She attacked me!"

Two other men came in and grabbed her. She chose not to struggle or else the punishment would be worse than it already was. Gemma learned not to fight after attacking an orderly several times the first couple of days she was there. She was led into a familiar room. Tears were now desperately pounding at her eyes to escape. The electroshock therapy was the worst kind of punishment. She assumed that the two other orderlies were in on the rape of the patients at the asylum, her fighting back was punishment for not submitting. Her theory was confirmed when one of them whispered in her ear as she was getting hooked up to the machines. "Maybe after this you'll learn to just lie there."

An hour or so later, she was being led back to her room. Gemma's eyes were dazed and blurry. She was placed on her bed facing the wall. She didn't move. She just lay there. It felt like hours had passed until she felt arms around her. A sudden crossed over her skin and she realised she was outside. She didn't even know how they made it through the bars on the window. Then, Gemma passed out.

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><p>Gemma woke up lying in the middle of a forest...or was it a jungle? The smell of the ocean was close by and she could hear seagulls. She looked around and followed a path that led to a cliff and her breath hitched in her throat. It was beautiful.<p>

She sat down and watched as the ocean pushed back and forth from the shore. A mermaid was singing on a rock and was brushing her hair. Fairies were chasing each other in a glade near by. Flowers bloomed everywhere. Colourful fruits and berries grew on trees and bushes anywhere the flowers weren't. And then-

A rustling came from behind her. Gemma turned to see Geoffrey run through the fringe of the trees and attacked her with licks all over her face.

"Great. Now I know I really am insane."

She heard a chuckle to the right of where Geoffrey had just emerged. Gemma turned her head to see a boy about a year older than her with chestnut brown hair and mischievous green eyes looking down at her from his perch on a tree bough, a smirk planted on his face.

"Not likely," he said. "Welcome to Neverland."


	3. A New Place to Call Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Once Upon A Time", Peter Pan or Felix; the writers of Once do. I do, however, own Gemma Berring, the evil stepmother, the Lost Boys that I created, the evil witch bitch and any other characters other than Pan and Felix.**

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><p>"What the Hell is Neverland?"<p>

He lifted his eyebrows, clearly amused and jumped from the tree, landing a couple feet in front of her. "Oh, not very ladylike." He looked her up and down. "However, judging by your wardrobe, you probably aren't a lady at all."

Gemma jumped up, just about done with everything. "Excuse me! I am the daughter of Lord Erik Berring of the Winchester Kingdom! When he passed away I was forced to be raised by my evil stepmother who sent me to an asylum because I said that a shadow stole the neighbour's son! I was almost raped by a man who was supposed to be taking care of me while at the asylum and when I fought him, he sent me into electroshock therapy to teach me a lesson! I'm tired, my head hurts, and now I am in a mysterious land somehow! Yes, I am going to not fucking talk like a lady and you _will_ show me some respect!"

The boy smirked down at her. That smirk was really starting to piss Gemma off.

"You've got fire. I like that." He took another step forward so they were only a yard apart. "Now. Who are you and how did you get on my island?"

"Well, excuse you. My name is Gemma Berring. I don't know how I got here. I think I flew but I was near unconscious and was probably delirious."

His face went very serious. It was a bit unsettling, seeing him go from playful to serious with the drop of a hat. "Flew?"

"Ah, crap. Now you're going to think I'm insane, too." She threw her face into her hands and groaned.

He took another few steps forward so that they were only a foot apart.

"Tell me. How did you _fly_ here?"

"You're just gonana think I'm mad like everyone else..." She peeked through her fingers, surprised to see him so close.

"Just answer the damn question, girl!"

"It was a shadow okay! The same shadow I saw take my neighbour! But of course they all thought I was insane! Now you're gonna think I'm insane and lock me away or something, just like my damn stepmother did! It was terrible. There was this one punishment there... " She realised she was rambling. She stopped abruptly and looked up at him, nervous.

He was watching her carefully. Curious about her experience and...annoyed?

"This shadow. You're sure?"

Gemma sighed, too weak to deny it. "Yes."

"I'll have to talk with him later..."

"Sorry? What was that?" Did she really just hear what she thought she just heard?

"Never mind any of that." He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I'm Peter Pan and you, Gemma Berring of the Winchester Kingdom, are my prisoner."

She was about to protest when she felt a tug at her stomach and her head went dizzy. Gemma then realised they weren't on the cliff anymore. Peter looked down at her with his eyebrows raised in amusement, his eyes lit with humour once again. He let go and stepped back.

"Welcome to camp."

Gemma looked around to see boys everywhere, her age or younger. They looked up as her and Peter arrived and went silent.

"Boys, we have ourselves a stray."

Gemma glared at him, "excuse me?"

He ignored her and continued. "However, she seems just as lost as the rest of us so we don't have to kill her. Not yet, anway." Gemma scoffed and his smirk only grew. "We'll just have to take her as our prisoner. Maybe she can upgrade to a Lost Girl."

The boys turned to each other, muttering.

"Oh, don't give me that! There's always a first for everything and who knows, maybe she'll be of some use."

He looked at her as he said the last part and did that irritating, smug smirk of his. Gemma scoffed again and rolled her eyes.

"Felix! Get her situated."

A tall boy of about seventeen walked over to Gemma. He had messy sandy hair and a scar she guessed was from duelling one of the other boys. He might've been attractive if he were smiling.

"Come on, Lost Girl." He drawled sarcastically.

She followed reluctantly, not really having much other choice. Felix walked over to a pile of clothing and started searching for a suitable size of clothing for her. He finally found what he was looking for and threw a pair of lost boy made pants and shirt with a pair of stalkings and boots.

"You want me to wear...pants?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, why?" He looked at her like she was insane, which obviously stung given she was just broken out of an asylum.

"Um, nothing." She quickly replied, secretly glad to not have to wear dresses all the time. She never was fond of them and was much more energetic than most young ladies where she lived. Maybe now she could finally be her.

"I'll bring you to a cave where you can change. I assume you'd rather not change in front of all the guys." His eyes were gleaming with a hint of humour.

"Oh, no. I always would always announce when I was changing so that the guys could all gather and change. It was one of my favourite pass times." Gemma said sarcastically.

A smile fought at Felix's lips as he led her into the jungle. "You have fire. Hold onto it. You're going to need it with Pan. This way." He led them deeper into the thicket and stopped. "There." He pointed to a cave that was hid well.

"Thank you, Felix." Gemma walked into the cave and watched as Felix walked to the side. She assumed it was reassurance that he wasn't going to look. She appreciated that. "Um, actually...can I bathe first? I haven't had a proper bath in 3 weeks." She called out.

She could hear him chuckled, "are you decent?"

"Yes."

Felix walked into the cave. "Come on."

They walked out of the cave and Felix pointed to a pool of water that was hidden by tall grass and bushes. "Bathe there."

"Thank you again!" She smiled at him. "Wait! What can I use to dry myself?"

He rolled his eyes and reluctantlty took his cape and handed it to her. She stared at it, a bit nervous.

"It's clean."

"Clean enough, I suppose..."

She started to turn to the pool when she realised that Felix was still looking at her. "Go on!" She shooed him into the cave. Gemma then continued onto the pool, thankful that the camp was so far away. She quickly discarded her gown and undergarments jumping into the pool of water. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either. Comfortable is the best way to describe it. She cleaned herself as best she could without a scrubbing brush and some soap. When she was finished, she briefly enjoyed the cleanliness and cool water before a familiar accented voice cut through her relaxation.

"Taking a bath, I see."

Gemma nearly jumped out of her skin. "Jesus Christ!" She looked over at Peter from over her shoulder and sunk deeper into the water so it was now at her chin and wrapped her arms around her chest. "What the Hell are - you know what? Go ahead. Watch. I'm just happy to be clean."

"Oh, if that's the case, then I'll just have to invite the other Lost Boys over for the show. We are teenagers, after all." He paused. "Well, most of us."

She glared at him. "Why are you here anyway?"

"You took to long and I wanted to make sure our dear old Felix wasn't taking advantage of having a female of the same age around."

A laugh sounded from the cave as a tall figure emerged from inside. "No, I was being a gentleman. Unlike you."

"Look who's talking. You're here, too." Gemma muttered.

Peter burst out laughing. Felix looked at him surprised at him before laughing himself. Gemma was right, he looked attractive when he smiled. She looked at them both, feeling at peace. She wasn't sure why, but she was glad to see them laughing. Perhaps it was the sad, loneliness that lay behind their eyes...

"Yeah. So I'm getting a bit pruney here so if you both could do a gal a favour and go back into that cave so I can change, that'd be great. Thanks."

They chuckled and walked to the cave. Once she was certain they were in the cave, Gemma climbed out of the water and quickly wrapped Felix's cape around her before drying herself and getting changed faster than she had ever done before. She admired the feeling of her skin being so exposed. She looked down at herself, noting how her figure looked for the first time. It would have been great, if she wasn't so skinny. Her ribs were almost completely showing and her hips protruded out and she couldn't help but grimace at the sight. The asylum was a rough place. Gemma sighed at the thought as she heard footsteps approach her, twigs cracking and leaves crunching.

"Much better improvement than that gown," Peter smirked.

"I'm sure you'd think so." Gemma turned and headed back in the direction of camp.

Felix laughed at Peter. She could see a small smile on Peter's lips as Felix laughed. They both followed Gemma back to camp, directing her which way to go from time to time until they were finally back. Gemma sat on a log at the edge of the clearing. Boys were staring at her by now. She looked away and back down at her feet. Her hair fell in her face and she realised she never combed it.

"Oy! Peter! You got a comb? I would ask Felix but, you know." The boys around her erupted into laughter.

He smirked down at her. "Yes, but you can't use it."

"What?"

"Just get your own."

"Oh, yeah. I'll walk to the Neverland Beauty Shoppe and buy one right now. Gee. Why hadn't I thought of that? Thanks so much." Gemma rolled her eyes.

The Lost Boys were looking back and forth between her and Peter anxiously. But Peter just looked amused.

"Gemma, come here."

Gemma got up and sauntered over to him. She had never felt more confident or alive until she got to Neverland. There was something different about Neverland, something about Peter.

"Hold out your hand."

Gemma held out her hand and waited.

"Now believe, _really _believe, you have a comb in your hair. Might be easier if you close your eyes."

Gemma closed her eyes and imagined the comb from back home in her hand. A light weight filled her hand. She opened her eyes, surprised. There it was. The comb she had since her mother died; her mother's comb. A gasped and bit her lip. "Amazing."

She looked up to see Peter's eyebrow raised in wonder. He eyed her curiously, which only confused Gemma.

"Welcome to Neverland, love." He said, then walked away.

"Wait!" She ran up to catch up with him. "What exactly _is _up with Neverland?"

"Come with me." He wrapped his arm around her waist again. She knew what was coming so she closed her eyes and waited for their departure. When she reopened them, they were on the cliff they had met.

"Sit down." He said as he sat down, patting the grass next to him.

Gemma nodded and sat down. "So what is Neverland?"

"A land for the lost children to visit and feel free in their dreams. However, some of us can come here and stay, if we so choose. Which is what I, the original Lost Boy, and the other Lost Boys have chosen. We don't ever get girls here. Emphasis on _ever_."

Gemma watched as he continued.

"This island is an island powered by believing. It's magic. I'm magic. I have a deal with the island but that's not important right now. All you need know is that if you want something, just believe. That's all." He smiled down at her, and then his eyebrow raised. "Though, I don't really know how _you _can do that. You have to be magic. Were you born with any?"

"Not that I am aware of, no."

"Hm. I wonder why the island granted you that, then."

"Why did you ask me to do that anyway?"

"I also ask the new inhabitants of the island to do. I have to see who has magic and who doesn't. No one has been able to do so so far. No one except you, of course."

She smiled back at Peter and then looked back out to the view.

"The Lost Boys like you already. You gained respect very quickly. It was surprising, but comforting."

"Comforting?"

"Well, there's something about you. I don't know what it is, however I am sure the island does. You just feel important, for some reason. You have this air about you that I feel could really bring the family back here. I was right." He smiled at her again, a nice genuine one. She crunched up her nose and raised her eyebrow.

"I'm glad. I've never felt more at home since my father was alive."

"What happened?"

"My father's death?"

"No, tell me everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything."

She took a deep breath and then Geoffrey came running over. "GEFFY! OH, MY GOSH! YOU'RE OKAY!" Sh yelled, making Peter cover his left ear. "Oh, sorry."

Geoffrey was wagging his tail and licking her face.

"It's okay, Geffy. You can lay down."

Gemma stroked his back until he lay down with his paws and head resting on her lap.

"Please, continue."

Gemma smiled, "my father, mother and I always lived in happiness and harmony. It was amazing, like a dream. Sometimes I wonder if it _was _a dream that I made up to make part of my childhood seem happier. Then I would see my mother's comb and portraits of us together. We really were happy." She sighed." Then Mother died. I was only 6. It took a toll on all of us. Even the servants, which were more like family than anything else. When I was 9, Father remarried. He felt I needed a mother figure to help me with the feminine things that he couldn't. I understood his reasonings. Although, I never liked her." Gemma took another breath. "3 years ago, my father died of a severe illness called tuburculosis. That was when everything went down hill."

Darkness passed over Gemma's face, "she treated me horribly, but she was all I had left so I did everything I could to please her. Constantly failing and not living up to her impossible expectations. I felt like such a failure. I was only 14 and made me feel worthless. I even resorted to self-harm to deal with the emotional pain."

Peter's jaw tensed but Gemma didn't notice. "It was like an attempt of releasing the emotional pain through physical, like it was leaving my body with each slice of the blade. Eventually, I told myself it wasn't worth the scars. Most of them faded, thankfully.

"Anyway, she made me feel worthless. I hated my life. Hated every moment, and yet I still tried to please her. 3 weeks ago was when I first saw the Shadow. I assume it's yours? I've noticed you don't have one."

Peter nodded, still tense. "Very observant."

"Thanks." She smiled and then continued. "I saw him take Jonathan Kane and thought it was a dream or something and went back to sleep. When I woke up and heard Mrs Kane screaming about how her son was missing, I got changed and ran down the stairs to tell them. Obviously that was a terrible idea." She scowled. "Stepmother - or as I used to call her, Momma - made me leave, so Geffy and I ran to the stables and then went to our field with Corine, my horse. Oh, how I miss him." Gemma bit her lip. "I fell asleep and then after I woke up, I made my way back to the manour. Stepmother was sitting at the sofa. She asked me to sit down and explain the Shadow incident. It felt wrong. I should have trusted my judgement and just run away. But, I told her everything that happened."

Gemma's face contorted into anger. "That's when she did the most cruel thing she could ever do. She held me in her arms and stroked my hair, like she was soothing me. When I asked if she believed me. There was a beat of a pause and she did one action that showed me she hated my whole existence. She said pushed me away and hissed out 'no', telling the people to take me away. They were hiding in the other room, clearly listening in for the command to take me. And her wicked, evil look that she gave me as they dragged me from the room. That is something I will never forget."

Geffy whined on her lap. Gemma slowly stroked his head,

"What happened at the asylum?" Peter asked.

"Ah, yes. The asylum." She took another deep breath before continuing. "I honestly am not sure which was better or which was worse, the asylum or the manour with my stepmother. They put me in cages when I was bad, but thy favoured the electroshock therapy. I'm not surprised if I am slightly mad from it." Gemma chuckled. "My room was terribly small with one tiny window with bars. I had no blankets, we were neglected of food most of the time and when they did feed us, it was usually drugged. So many girls were taken advantage of the male orderlies. They were supposed to be taking care of us, but they assaulted them. I wasn't, but I almost was, as I'm sure you can recall when we first met. But, really. That was a lost cause of that fat, ugly brute to begin with. He threw me on the bed by my hair and was about to, well you know, when something inside me snapped and I kneed him in the grow and then pushed him away before spitting at him and saying 'I'm not insane.' He had called me a loony and that bothered me."

Gemma looked back up at Peter. Pride shown through his eyes. "And then I was brought into electroshock therapy. When I was brought back to my room, I was all dizzy and my vision was blurry. After a while, I felt someone picked me up bridal style. I thought it was a reaction from the electricity, I felt like I was flying. Then I realised I was outside and all I could think of was how we made it through the barred window."

Peter watched her as she looked up. "And then I was here on his cliff. When I found Geffy again and met you." She looked back at Peter, a gentle smile decorating her face.

"Well, there will be no more pain anymore, Gem. You're home."


End file.
